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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Dreamworks Video
Salesrank: 4757
Released: February 7, 2006 |
| Our Price: $7.64 |
| Used Price: $1.24 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Elizabeth is a workaholic doctor who is way too busy for a life. One night, she gets into a car accident and becomes stuck between heaven and earth. David is a lonely architect who rents her old apartment and thinks he's crazy when he starts seeing her spirit. He tries to get rid of her but she just won't go away.
Description of Just Like Heaven (Widescreen Edition):
Bad romantic comedies make you scoff at their absurdity; good ones make you wish your life was that absurd. Just Like Heaven is just smart and likable enough to trigger that wishing. David (Mark Ruffalo, Collateral, You Can Count On Me) finds an amazing apartment in San Francisco--only to discover it's haunted by the spirit of the previous tenant, an overachieving doctor named Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde, Election). There's something not quite right about Elizabeth's afterlife; against his better judgement, David agrees to help her investigate her life...but finds himself digging into his own as well. The plot takes a twist that some viewers will see coming, but Just Like Heaven doesn't rely on the surprise alone; the revelation takes the story in a new and just as entertaining direction. Witherspoon and Ruffalo are two of the best romantic leads around, but the surprise is how well their contrasting flavors (perky and moody, respectively) mesh, creating a sparky, engaging chemistry. Also featuring Dina Waters (Freaky Friday), Donal Logue (The Tao of Steve), Ben Shenkman (Angels in America), and Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite). Crisply directed by Mark Waters (Mean Girls), who carefully keeps the supernatural from getting silly and the romance from getting gooey. --Bret Fetzer
Just Like Heaven (Widescreen Edition) Reviews:
Eden maybe, but not quite Heaven 
2009-11-23 - David Abott (Ruffalo) is soo wooden, he makes Al Gore look emotionally compromised.
In fact, you could say the same about all the other characters Ruffalo plays. It is as if
he is powered by energizer batteries. It is as if lines of dialogue could substitute for him,
in scenes with Reese Witherspoon.
That said, this movie has its moments. It sort of asks the question, maybe fantasy is
better than reality. Imagine a relationship where you did not have to touch the other
person. How much more would it be, if you never had to see them in a hospital gown,
or feel the callouses on their hands from working "in the garden"? What is a person, in
an age of Alzheimer's? What are you, who are you, if your memories are taken from you?
In Elizabeth's case, still a pleasant person to be around. And still smart enough to remember
how to save another's life with some vodka and a pairing knife. Intelligence and memories
are not very well correlated it would seem. I guess some who value the databank of trivia
that they contain within themselves, will hate this movie...I liked that scene where the
librarian (Napoleon Dynamite) looks at the cover of a book, and then says "garbage" and
throws it aside. Covers matter.
One odd thing: The lack of anger shown towards her sister. I thought it bizarre that her
sister was willing to "pull the plug" considering that she did not have to pay the bills to
keep ker alive. Why didn't she attack her, with her "spirit fingers"? Also, she looks at an
X-Ray, and then says to the guy, "No fracture. Send him home". But do hospitals take
care of their own?
I also liked the contrast between the garden she sees in the spirit, and the garden she sees
for real. Perhaps it was the energy that he brought into his work, that enveloped her earlier?
Her eyes were closed, while sitting in that chair, and also while sitting in the garden.
And then there is the contrast between that garden, and the new one he constructs. You can
only do so much with the resources that are available to you. Still, it is the thought, or maybe
feeling, that counts. No, actually both. Because without the intellect, without the thoughts,
the thinking process, a landscape architect, or a surgeon, might make the wrong move.
He faints at the sight of blood, while an ambulance is carrying another away, behind him.
Will passerbys notice, or assume he is sleeping? Feelings. Thoughts. Logic and emotion.
Love is a feeling, which may or may not, express itself as an action. The heart is needful,
but the brain is useful, and oft taken for granted...She's a ghost, and therefore can't give
him a band-aid, or duct tape for that matter.
Eden. The man was commanded to dress and keep the garden. But he had no tools. Fruit did
not spoil, then. Death was not there. Then, the woman was created, to be a help MEET for the
man, and not a help mate. MEET, as in, designed for, or a hand that fits the glove...If you wanted
to go on a trip, I guess you would want your room prepared for you, before you arrived...The
woman was made FOR the man, and not the man for the woman: Hence, he NEEDS her, and she
might WANT him (especially, if he is useful)...After the Fall, sin entered into their flesh. (Sin is an
entity, and not only the act of breaking a commandment of God's. If you do evil, your desire
will be towards sin, and sin shall rule over you: See, Genesis 4:7; Romans 6:16, KJV.) And they
could now experience the lusts of the flesh. Sin had entered into "the world" ("they" who do not
belong to Him). See, Galations 5:16-18; Galations 5:24, KJV. Crucify the dominatrix (she who
walks after the flesh), so that the goddess might reign. Man is to worship and serve the Creator
MORE THAN the creature: See, Romans 1:18-25, KJV.
The new guy, who gets "the office" seemed more concerned about his iPod than in the patients.
Also, David appeared to have a drinking problem. Was the driver who hit her drunk? She was
talking on the phone, also listening on the phone. If you listen to the radio, while talking to
yourself, how different is that from having a cell phone conversation while driving? Why is music
safer than spoken words. Are not drivers safer while existing in "logic space" (conversation) rather
than in "emotion space" (music)?...Perception is reality, but reality may not be perception...David
appeared to have a drinking problem. The scene where he drinks vodka before helping save that
man's life, comes to mind. Would a homeless person ever be driven to pretend to be a doctor
just to drink from a bottle? Are you person-oriented, or object-oriented? I think David's drinking
though, was really to emphasize the fact that he had plenty of wine, luxury, but what he needed
was love, the way a plant needs water.
Cute premise, but hackneyed execution 
2009-09-13 - "Just Like Heaven" (based on the book Just Like Heaven) stars Reese Witherspoon as Elizabeth Masterson, a workaholic young doctor aspiring to become a resident physician in a San Francisco hospital. Elizabeth works double shifts (at the beginning, she's just finished 26 hours on call) and survives on espresso and cafeteria salads; she works because she truly cares about her patients and wants to do the right thing, even at the expense of her personal life. She has no love life, despite a friend's attempts to set her up on blind dates. While driving over to her sister's house on a rainy night, she's hit head-on by a semi (for some reason, this brought to mind Heart and Souls).
Three months later David Abbot (Mark Ruffalo), a landscape architect, is looking to rent an apartment with a great couch. He seems lost in personal tragedy, drowning his sorrows in copious amounts of alcohol. Shortly after he moves into Elizabeth's apartment, she appears to him, insulting his slobby housekeeping skills and demanding that he leave her apartment immediately. She disappears as quickly as she arrives, leading David to think that he must be hallucinating. David talks to his shrink friend Jack (Donal Logue) and seeks advice from Darryl (Jon Heder, Napoleon Dynamite), who claims to be able to sense ghosts. All I could sense was a rehash of Jon's Napoleon character, and the addition of Darryl felt unnecessary (or at least, a recast was called for). David and Elizabeth become grudging allies as they seek to uncover the truth behind Elizabeth's condition, coming up against hospital bureaucracy, and this takes up most of the film.
The scenery is nice enough, but there's so much artificial sweetness and logical improbabilities that go far beyond suspension of disbelief to make this workable. The various subplots (and choice of casting for Jack and Darryl) never really gelled for me. The attempts to insert physical comedy fell flat (David's seemingly spasmodic fight with a shot glass in a bar, Elizabeth attempting to "jump back" into her body, Elizabeth's sister running around wielding a meat cleaver), and Jon Heder's signature stoner hippie quickly grew grating. The script relied heavily on genre conventions (cue the "Ghostbusters" theme and references to The Joy Luck Club, and the climax felt far too scripted and forced to be effective (and there are medical impossibilities that boggle the mind). That's unfortunate, because Witherspoon's and Ruffalo's characters are likeable and their relationship has chemistry. With different writers, this could have been a great little romantic comedy, but as is it's only so-so.
Fun movie with a twist
2009-09-08 - I have just about decided that anything with Reese Witherspoon in it has to be good. This movie is no exception. The movie is a romantic comedy but I thought it had some twists and turns that made is less predictable and therefore, much more enjoyable than the average. The cast is great and the chemistry between the two leads (Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo) is exceptionally strong. They are both great actors and play against each other well.
While definitely a feel-good movie, this one isn't silly -- a good way to spend an evening.
About the movie 
2009-08-29 - An awesome movie that reminds how far you should go when you really love someone.
Just Like Heaven DVD
2009-04-29 - The DVD arrived on time and the product was absolutely perfect like brand new. Really enjoyed watching the movie too...
